Gareth O'Callaghan: Father’s Day reminds us there is no such thing as a perfect dad

Gareth O'Callaghan reflects on fatherhood, grief and the importance of making time for difficult conversations

Gareth O'Callaghan and his father Joe. Even though it’s been eight years since he sat in his favourite chair at the head of the kitchen table, I still find myself asking him questions.

Happy Father’s Day. I mentioned here last week that nothing in life worth having comes easy. Those words were at the heart of everything my father believed in throughout his life. Call it an inherent value — one that he passed to me.

Father’s Day also happens to fall this year on the longest day — as, no doubt, it will be for many fathers for different personal reasons. It’s a day that plays hard on emotions and memories that are often ignored at all costs on other days.